BBQ Bean Sliders

$7.42 recipe / $1.86 serving

Hindsight is 20/20. As I sat there hungrily devouring one of these BBQ Bean Sliders, beans were falling out of the bun nonstop and BBQ sauce was getting all over my hands and face. That’s when it hit me—this would have been much better as a wrap sandwich. Stuff the beans and slaw into a tortilla where it will be wrapped tightly for clean delivery into your mouth. Either way, this probably isn’t a good thing to cook for a first date. Or maybe even the second or third date.

But it is a good thing to cook when you are craving BBQ and you don’t feel like cooking an entire pork shoulder. I mean, I lovepulled pork and all, probably even more than I should, but sometimes it’s just not convenient. What is convenient? Opening up a couple cans of beans, adding some BBQ sauce, and whipping up a quick slaw. BBQ craving fixed.

If you’re a vegetarian, be sure to check the label of your favorite BBQ sauce, because you never know if they might have added some worcestershire sauce in there. If you’re not concerned about vegetarianism, adding worcestershire sauce to your beans will give an extra umami oomph.

My slaw is a little unconventional, but I think it worked here. Green onions and Dijon mustard make the slaw a little more savory, which balances nicely with the sweet BBQ sauced beans. NOM. Or, you know, use your grandma’s recipe that you love so much and have grown up with. ;)

BBQ Bean Sliders

BBQ Bean Sliders

These BBQ Bean Sliders topped with a savory slaw are a quick vegetarian fix for when you're craving BBQ.

Total Cost
$7.42 recipe / $1.86 serving

Prep Time15minutes

Cook Time15minutes

Total Time30minutes

Servings4to 6 servings

Ingredients

FOR THE BEANS

1Tbspolive oil$0.16

1small yellow onion$0.47

1clovegarlic$0.08

15 ozcanblack beans$1.12

15 ozcanpinto beans$1.08

1/2cupBBQ sauce$0.54

1/2tspsmoked paprika (optional)$0.05

4large buns$1.99

FOR THE SLAW

1/2-14 ozbagcoleslaw mix (shredded cabbage)$0.95

3whole green onions, sliced$0.35

1/3cupmayonnaise$0.44

1/2Tbsphoney$0.06

1tspDijon mustard$0.06

1/4tspsalt$0.02

1tspred wine or apple cider vinegar$0.02

Freshly cracked pepper$0.03

Instructions

Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Cook the onion and garlic with the olive oil in a medium sauce pot over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent (about 5 minutes).

Rinse and drain the pinto and black beans in a colander. Add the drained beans, BBQ sauce, and smoked paprika to the sauce pot with the onions and garlic. Stir to combine and then cook over medium-low heat until warmed through (stir occasionally).

While the beans and BBQ sauce are heating, prepare the slaw. Add the cabbage coleslaw mix to a large bowl. Slice the green onions and add them to the bowl with the cabbage.

In a separate small bowl, make the dressing for the slaw. Stir together the mayonnaise, honey, Dijon, vinegar, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add the dressing to the bowl with the slaw mix and green onions, then stir to combine.

To make the sliders, add a heaping 1/2 cup of BBQ beans to each bun, then top with 1/2 cup of the slaw. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

This would make an awesome (and easier to eat) wrap sandwich. Simply wrap the beans and slaw up in a large tortilla and enjoy!

Step by Step Photos

First, sauté the diced onion and minced garlic in olive oil over medium heat until soft and translucent. If you don’t want chunks of onion, you can grate the onion on a large cheese grater to make smaller pieces.

Rinse and drain the two cans of beans to get all the gunk off. A colander makes this job super easy.

Add the drained beans, BBQ sauce, and smoked paprika to the pot and heat through over medium-low heat. Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. You could add all sorts of things here like garlic powder, chipotle peppers, freshly cracked pepper, cayenne, or worcestershire (but that’s not vegetarian).

I bought this coleslaw mix because had I bought a head of cabbage and some carrots, I’d have WAY more than I needed. So, in this case I opted for the smaller package at a slightly higher price to avoid waste. If you know you can come up with uses for the rest of your cabbage, by all means, buy fresh and just chop it yourself :) I use half of this 14 oz. package and still have to come up with ideas for the leftovers!

Add half of that bag of coleslaw mix to a large bowl. Slice the green onions (white and green portions) and add them to the bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, Dijon, honey, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the dressing to the bowl with the slaw mix and…

Mix it all together until everything is coated. This made about 2-2.5 cups of slaw.

And then just pile it all on a bun! Or a tortilla… because not only would that be easier to eat, but it would also be a LOT less expensive. Tortillas>buns. Lesson learned.

55 comments on “BBQ Bean Sliders”

Made this tonight! Tasted great, used Sriracha Trader Joe’s BBQ sauce and used a pita to hold in it based on the comments. The BBQ sauce had a bunch of garlic and flavor so I skipped the garlic and did not add the smoked paprika. We were out of honey so I put a little bit of brown sugar instead.
Highly recommend!

This is really tasty, easy and fast. We did try eating it in buns once and it was a really big mess. Now we roll it up in giant whole wheat tortillas. i’ve tried using my favorite coleslaw recipe with this, but somehow this dressing works better with the beans.

These are delicious! I already had a favorite coleslaw recipe, but I decided to try yours to see how it compared. Now I have a new favorite! I didn’t have any green onions, so I sprinkled in some onion powder instead, and it was soooo good.

They’re definitely messy to eat, though. I’m going to take the suggestion from another commenter to try them on hot dog buns next time. Thanks for another yummy recipe!

Made these in a pita for mess control (dropped a whopping 6 beans) and mmmmmmmmmmm soooooooooo yummy. I ended up making my slaw sauce a bit on the tart side, which was actually good because I used a maple BBQ sauce on the beans and the two worked magic together :)

I made this for lunch today and it was so scrumptious!
This is the sixth of your recipes I’ve tried so far (they’ve all been winners) so I figured it was time to say thank you! I can’t wait to try more.

so yummy! thanks for this easy dinner. i went with the messy bun option, cuz bbq and coleslaw s reamed bread to me, plus your pics had me craving the exact thing in the picture. i doubled the recipe and wish i would have made 2 1/2 times the sauce, so i will do that next time

Yum! All your recipes are fantastic, but after we made this one, my partner and I actually high-fived because it was so awesome. We made the beans per your recipe, but made a chipotle slaw instead and it was a great complement. We also served it with some corn on the cob. A great meal–thanks for the recipe! Defo going into the rotation.

Hi! I’m Beth

As a food lover and a number cruncher I've decided that cooking on a budget shouldn't mean canned beans and ramen noodles night after night. Join me for delicious recipes designed for small budgets. More »